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According to a press release, Wednesday, Seawind LLC says it has 50 orders for its Seawind amphibian on the books, the design is frozen following successful flight tests and funding is needed to start assembling pre-production aircraft. Seawind says the design went to Ottawa a full year ago to begin flight tests and completed flutter tests there, last month. It plans to install a "stall prevention system" it says will prevent both stalls and spins and continue toward certification. The Seawind 300C is marketed as "the world's most versatile land plane" and "the world's fastest seaplane," but has faced significant challenges, including the loss of a test pilot in 2007.

Company chief Richard Silva told AVweb last year that he expects demand to exceed 120 aircraft per year. The company has been plodding alone toward its goal of certification since 2008, one year after a test pilot was killed in the crash of a Seawind 300C prototype. The aircraft has since been modified and Silva says the latest incarnation flies with a Continental IO-550 310-hp engine offered with a turbo-normalized option. Silva says the aircraft will fly faster than a Mooney and offer more elbow room than a Beaver. If funding is acquired, Seawind says it will start pre-production at its facility in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

Question of the Week

Picture of the Week

As aviation photos go, this was the best this week but there are some great beauty shots when you click through. In the meantime, congratulations to Daniel Gillette for this very nice photo he calls Sunset Pitch-Out. The photo is copyrighted by Gillette.